Hinkes Announces Next Objective

Berghaus-sponsored Challenge 8,000 man Alan Hinkes has announced his next objective and it's 8,167-metre Dhaulagiri, the seventh highest mountain in the world.

Alan'll be flying out to Nepal at the end of March for the pre-monsoon climbing season and aiming to summit the mountain during May. If he succeeds on his 13th 8,000er, it will leave just Kangchenjunga standing between him and his aim of becoming the first Briton to climb all 14 of the world's 8,000-metre peaks. To put that in perspective, only 12 mountaineers have ever achieved the feat.

We saw the mountain from a distance last year and it looks like an impressive, isolated, pointy snow peak.

Alan himself says 'Each mountain I climb offers its own challenges. Dhaulagiri will be very hard work, made up of complex ridges and ice falls.'

'The trek into base camp alone will take up to two weeks, traveling through the Kali Gandaki valley, the deepest in the world. I will be making a modern, lightweight summit attempt and I am feeling confident. As I have always said I climb to live, not to die - the summit is always optional but returning is mandatory.'

We'll keep you posted with Alan's progress. Last year he called us specially from Kathmandu after being forced to retreat from Kangchenjunga with respiratory problems, so let's hope this this it's lucky 13 for Alan. Good luck mate.